The Calutta Metro, College Street and a Few Other Things...

Been a lot more than a year since I came to Calcutta and I must confess that I have hardly moved around the city. Decided that things would change this time round and am determined to ensure that it happens. Somehow, Park Street was all that we managed to go most often to in the first year. And just a couple of other places, apart from the long drive to the airport once in 3 months.

Went to the Hyatt the other day for a party and it would rank midway on my enjoyment scale at best. Then yesterday, me and Nikhil decided to go to College Street or Book Street as it is called in popular parlance. And it was also decided that the mode of transport would not be the regular yellow cabs that we have come to use for every trip outside campus. Joka, not exactly being in the heart of the city, does have its disadvantages. And it was one of the best trips outside campus that I have been on in a long time. We took a couple of ricks to reach the closest Metro station. And from there the famed Calcutta metro took us in 20 minutes flat to our destination. They say that you can set your watch using the metro and it is hardly an exaggeration. Extremely reliable and convenient, is the metro.

Got down at MG Road and walked it to College Street. Though a little late in the day, we did manage to find a few bookshops open. It was almost deja vu for me as I went about checking the assorted collection of books, though visiting the place late in the evening isn't really the best of options. Deja vu not because I had been to the place before but because it reminded of my summer internship in Mumbai where I went on a book buying spree. The fact that I did not take my laptop to Mumbai helped a lot though. As we started buying a few books, the shopkeepers respect for us shot up a notch or two as there was this one guy who opened up his shop again and showed us the books he had. Pretty considerate of him to have done so, I must say. And it felt really nice to indulge in some good old street side haggling. That is one of the other charms of buying from the street as opposed to a bookshop, the cost of buying in a branded bookstore being another. Not that I don't like the shopping ambience at the bookstores, it's just that I would have gone bankrupt long ago if I had bought the new and original editions of all the books I have read.

Clive Cussler, Arthur Hailey, Wilbur Smith. Ken Follet and a couple of new authors later, we sought out the other reason we had been there. The Coffee House. Part of many Bengali movies and books, it is a part of history. We had heard a lot about the intellectual discussions that happen here over a cuppa chai. And once we entered the place we kind of realised why it is so. We had a few tables occupied by people engaged in discussing art and books among other things.

All done and a couple of places ticked in my list, we traced back the route we came and returned to Joka. Hopefully the josh levels will remain intact and I will be seeing more of Calcutta.

A long post by my standards, but just felt like writing again today.

Will keep this space updated!